When Mary J. Blige dropped 1994's My Life, she admits it was personally a tough time for her. Ironically the album’s also hailed as her best work.

Having recently released My Life II: The Journey Continues (Act 1), the Queen of Hip Hop Soul sat down with Swizz Beatz at New York’s radio station Hot 97 to discuss the inspiration behind the album and her own life lessons.

The Grammy award-winning singer says that when she started working on the album, she realized trial has been consistent in her life.

She says, “Every time I learned how to get through hard times there was always something on the other side. I felt like there was so much healing in the title My Life itself that why would I name it something else?”

Even though Blige, 40, says the dark days are still there, she also acknowledges making the decision to move past them that keep her on the journey. Watch the complete interview here.

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(Photo: Courtesy Geffen Records)